


oh, the rumours!

by ThatFilmGraduate



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No War, Bisexual Remus Lupin, Confessions, Experienced Remus Lupin, Friends to Lovers, Gay Sirius Black, Getting Together, Hogwarts Rumour Mill, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced oral sex, Investigations, Investigator Sirius Black, Jealous Sirius Black, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Rumours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 11:09:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29998455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatFilmGraduate/pseuds/ThatFilmGraduate
Summary: On the second weekend of October in his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Sirius Black overhears a rumour about an oral genius and, after hearing a few more tales, decides to do some investigations to find out the identity of this person.In which Sirius Black is an investigator, James Potter is clueless, Peter Pettigrew knows a lot, and Remus Lupin accidentally gains a reputation.
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Other(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 66





	oh, the rumours!

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these HP characters or settings.
> 
> Written: February 2021  
> Edited: March 2021

On the second weekend of October in his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Sirius Black found himself in the school's Library with his friends and fellow Gryffindors – Remus Lupin, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew.

The lads, colloquially and collectively known as the Marauders, were not there for studious purposes, as one might think, but for more mischievous reasons. Specifically, they were there to get their ideas in order and to plan their prank for the upcoming Hallowe'en party, as was tradition. James and Remus were skimming the books and noting down interesting spells, Peter was on watch duty in case anyone (namely curious girlfriends or nosy Librarians) came looking for them, and Sirius was wandering the aisles and searching out any noteworthy texts.

It was as he was doing this that he overheard a discussion between two sixth year Hufflepuffs:

"Have you heard, then?" one of them asked: a redhead with large red glasses and frizzy hair.

"I've heard a great many things," the other answered: a blonde with colourful braces and short hair.

"Oh, hardy-har," the redhead replied, rolling her eyes. "I meant about Arnold."

Sirius's ears pricked up and he hid behind the bookshelves, skimming the tomes but mostly listening into the conversation for any ensuing gossip about the only Arnold at the school: Arnold Patterson, a plain sixth year Ravenclaw who was notable for one reason; and that reason was that he was one of only three openly gay students at school (Sirius being one, and Marlene McKinnon being the other).

"What about him?" the blonde asked, interest piqued.

The redhead glanced around suspiciously and leaned forward conspiratorially before she whispered: "So, I heard that Arnold spent last weekend with... The Mouth."

"Bullshit," the blonde scoffed. "The Mouth doesn't exist."

"Ya-huh."

"No, it's just a rumour that Emmeline Vance made up and then everyone jumped on it."

Sirius rolled his eyes, because when had Emmeline Vance ever had anything of value to say?

(He wasn't a fan of the Ravenclaw Head Girl – but only because she had broken Remus's heart at the end of their fifth year. It had nothing to do with the fact that Remus had even dated her in the first place, or that Remus still sometimes snuck out of Gryffindor Tower to meet her...)

"No, it's true," the redhead insisted, eyes comically wide. "Oliver heard it from Alice who heard it from Arnold himself. The Mouth is real. And it – is – amazing. Apparently."

The blonde merely rolled her eyes and said, "Sure."

"Fine," the redhead sniffed, "Don't believe me. But it's true."

The blonde just hummed and Sirius, understanding that the gossip session was over and bored of their voices anyway, moved further down the aisle and found a book on Levitation charms, which he picked out and took back to the others.

This was the first time that Sirius heard about 'The Mouth' but it was not the last:

Three days passed before he heard Eileen Trivia in the Transfiguration corridor as she gave rather loud and explicit details about her 'mind-blowing' foray. A week or so after that, he overheard Aaron Brady in the Prefect Bathroom as he whispered to his mate about his 'religious' experience. When he spent an hour listening to Delilah Corrie and Johnny Dench both praising this mystery person's mouth to each other in the back of the DADA classroom, Sirius decided it was time that he try and find out who The Mouth was.

(Mostly because Sirius was insatiably curious by nature, but also because he was wondering if any of it was true or if this was all just a rumour.)

"Oi, pricks," Sirius greeted to his friends in the Great Hall, one afternoon in late October.

"Ey 'up, bitch," James replied absently before he shoved a large Yorkshire pudding into his mouth.

Peter just grunted, too focused on eating his dinner and studying his Herbology textbook as if it held the secrets to the Universe.

Remus offered a typical Exasperated Moony smile and said, "Lovely to see you too, Padfoot."

Sirius grinned brightly and began loading his plate with mashed potatoes. "Anything new happening?" he asked, nodding to the newspaper in Remus's hand.

"Not really," Remus replied with a shrug. "Some woman adopted 32 jarvies from a closing shelter last week, and the Bristol Bees won against the Manchester Moles by 250 points."

Sirius hummed and decided to jump straight in: "Oi, have any of you heard about The Mouth?"

The obscure question gained attention. His friends all looked at him, each with a different expression: James looking confused, Peter seeming unsure if it was a legitimate question or not, and Remus waiting for some sort of elaboration. Sirius just raised an expectant eyebrow at them, because one of them had to have heard about this, surely? He himself had overheard many discussions.

"The what?" James asked, when the silence dragged on for too long.

"The Mouth," Sirius repeated, glancing around at his friends who honestly seemed to not know what he was talking about. "Loads of people are talking about him."

Remus frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but Peter cut in and said, "I've heard of him."

Sirius glanced at Remus, who turned back to the articles in his newspaper and began squinting at the pages (because he refused to wear his reading glasses in public, despite Sirius's many declarations that he looked very dapper in them). Sirius watched for a second, distracted and transfixed by his werewolf friend, before he refocused his attention on his other friend and checked:

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Peter replied with a nod. "Plenty of people talking about 'im."

"Do you know who it is?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice casual and impartial, not wanting the others to see how interested he was in the identity of the rumoured genius.

"Sorry, what's this?" James asked, looking between Peter and Sirius.

"Nah, it's all very need-to-know," Peter said. "But I've heard that it's a bloke and that he's in Gryffindor – but McKinnon said that, so it's probably not true. I've also heard that he's... you know..."

"What are we talking about?" James asked again.

Sirius frowned and, ignoring James's question, replied to Peter, "No, what?"

"Queer," Peter answered simply. "Kind of. He likes both – like Remus."

Remus, who up until now had been reading and drinking his tea in peace, looked away from the Daily Prophet at the mention of his name and asked, "Huh?"

"He likes to go down on both," Peter stated.

"I'm sorry?" Remus asked, hazel eyes wide at the accusation.

Sirius grinned, because his friend was very cute when flustered – and wide hazel eyes coupled with reddening ears implied that Remus Lupin was soon to be very flustered.

"Not you," Peter laughed, "The Mouth."

Remus frowned in confusion and looked to James, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," James pouted. "They're ignoring me."

Peter rolled his eyes at James's stupid pout and explained, "There's some bloke giving people oral and he's apparently really good at it."

Remus paused, face purposely and meticulously blank, before he said, "Oh," and returned his eyes to his newspaper.

Sirius frowned at Remus's response but decided not to think too much on it and instead replied to Peter: "I figured he liked to go down on both, considering both Delilah Corrie and Johnny Dench were comparing their experiences in DADA earlier."

A clatter and a muttered, "Bugger," brought Sirius's attention back to Remus, who had spilled some of his tea on his mashed potatoes and the table.

"Are you okay, Moony?" Sirius asked, a bit concerned for his friend.

Remus nodded but did not look at him and instead dabbed at the table with a napkin. "Yeah, m'fine," he replied. "Just... lost my grip, I guess."

Sirius wanted to ask a follow-up question, because Remus was always steady and collected and rarely ever clumsy, but James asked:

"Wait, why have I not heard about this bloke?"

"Well, your attention is usually focused entirely on Evans's cleavage most days," Peter joked, then yelped when James kicked him under the table.

"Twat," James growled.

Peter offered the finger then stuffed a forkful of beef in his mouth.

"Wormtail has a point, mate, but it's not entirely your fault," Sirius stated, attempting to bring the talk back to the topic at hand. "This bloke has only recently rose to prominence, after all, but he's getting around. Everyone is referring to him as The Mouth."

"And you're asking about him because...?"

Sirius shrugged and said, "Just wondered if any of you knew who he was."

"He obviously wants to have a go," Peter snickered.

James laughed and asked, "Is that true, Padfoot? Fancy getting your dick sucked by some stranger?"

Sirius glared at his giggling friends and avoided looking in Remus's direction as he felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment at the allegation. The last thing he needed was Remus thinking that he wanted some casual fling with a stranger. (Not that it mattered, since Remus didn't return his affections and probably never would.)

"Do fuck off," he retorted coolly. "I was just wondering who it was."

"Aye, sure," James snickered.

Sirius rolled his eyes at their sniggering and ate his food in silence, wondering how next to pursue his investigations since his friends were completely useless tossers.

As October moved into November and the weather grew colder, Sirius found himself nowhere near to finding out who The Mouth was, though the bloke certainly had an impressive reputation that was fast growing. Sirius had overheard two more conversations about the infamous pleasurer but no one mentioned who it was by name. That said, everyone apart from Sirius seemed to know who it was.

It was mid-November before Sirius finally found out who it was.

He was sitting with Marlene in the Study Room when it happened: George Olivers – perhaps the most annoying student at Hogwarts – walked into the room and sat down at their table.

"Have either of you seen Alegra?" he asked, glancing between Sirius and Marlene haughtily.

"No," Sirius replied curtly.

"She was here a minute ago," Marlene answered. "I think she said she was going to her common room."

George sighed and slumped forward, resting his face on his hand.

Sirius and Marlene shared a look before Marlene said, "Can we help you with anything else?"

"No, I'm brilliant," the Ravenclaw replied with another airy sigh. "I have just had the most brutally wonderful experience with The Mouth."

"Really?" Marlene asked, a small smirk on her face.

George just nodded blissfully.

"Didn't know you swung that way, Olivers," Marlene remarked.

George snorted and replied, "I don't. But desperate times and all that rot."

"Well, you certainly look relaxed," Marlene laughed. "Lived up to the hype, then?"

"More than," George replied, sitting up and smirking at Sirius.

Sirius didn't know why the other student was smirking at him, so he just frowned back. He didn't want to talk to the most aggravating student at Hogwarts, but with the way that George was smirking at him and still looking at him, he couldn't hold back and he snapped:

"What? Why are looking at me?"

"You're sat in front of me," George replied smartly.

Sirius rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Well, I really must be going," George stated, standing up. "Laters."

"What a twat," Sirius muttered, when he was sure the other student had left the vicinity.

Marlene laughed and said, "You only hate him because he's better at Muggle Studies than you."

"I hate him because he's a twat," Sirius retorted.

Marlene hummed and said, "At least he's pretty when he smiles."

Sirius shot her a look of disgust, but she paid it no mind – mostly because she was unaffected by Sirius's expressions by now but also because her very stunning girlfriend, Dorcas Meadowes, walked into the room. Dorcas smiled and took a seat at their table, planting a very quick kiss on Marlene's cheek.

"Hi, sweetness," Marlene greeted, her hand immediately taking Dorcas's.

"Hi, babe," Dorcas replied before she turned to Sirius and said, "Hi, Sirius."

"Dorcas," he greeted with a nod.

"George Olivers is another on the list," Marlene informed her girlfriend.

"God, really?" Dorcas asked, with an expression that showed her distaste. "George Olivers. Of all the people he could've gone with, he went with George. I thought he had standards."

"He?" Sirius asked, looking between the girls. "Wait, do you know who it is? The Mouth?"

Marlene shot him a funny look, but Dorcas laughed and said, "Hah, like you don't know."

Sirius just stared at them.

"Oh, wow," Marlene said, blue eyes widening, "You really don't know."

"Oh," Dorcas muttered, biting her lip.

"You know who it is," Sirius accused. "Who is it?"

"We shouldn't say," Dorcas replied. "If he hasn't told you..."

"Tell me who it is," Sirius demanded.

Marlene and Dorcas shared a look before Marlene answered: "Remus."

Sirius froze, certain that he had misheard because Remus wasn't – Remus hadn't – Remus wouldn't...

But as he thought about it, fragments became pieces, and those pieces came together to create a whole picture, and the more he stared at that picture, the more it all made sense. The disappearances, the looks people levelled at them with in the halls, the numerous secret conversations between Remus and other people, the notes passed in class, the silence from his friend whenever the topic came up.

But he couldn't believe it. Remus was not one to give himself away so freely; Remus was guarded and private and moderate; Remus would have told him.

"What about him?" he asked, playing dumb.

"Remus is, uh... He's getting around," Marlene explained, watching him carefully.

"What does that mean?" he asked, not wanting to believe that his friend – the person he had been wanting to kiss since their fourth year – was going around and giving other people everything that he had dreamed of.

"Sirius..."

"What does that mean?" he repeated, levelling her with a stare that urged her to say something else.

Marlene sighed and stated, "Your good friend, Remus Lupin, is The Mouth."

Sirius shook his head and muttered, "No, that's – that's impossible. You're wrong."

"Oh, come on, Sirius," Marlene drawled, rolling her eyes. "You must have noticed how different he is this year; how much attention he's getting from others; how much more confident he is. You've heard the rumours, and most of them are true. Remus is very good with his mouth, or so I've heard."

The truth was that Sirius had noticed the change. He had noticed more people whispering in corridors, but he had thought that it was just normal business – people talking about the Marauders. And he had noticed how much more assertive Remus had become, but he had put that down to them being in their seventh year and maturing. And he had heard the rumours, but his mind refused to link the dirty tales with his innocent friend.

Sirius shook his head vehemently, refusing to believe it because he would have known. He paid more attention to Remus than anyone else. He would have known; he was sure of it. "Remus hasn't... Remus is cautious," he stated. "He wouldn't do something like that with someone he didn't know."

"Oh, sweet boy," Marlene said, placing a patronising hand on his. "He would. He has, and he has quite the reputation for it."

Sirius shook her off, stood up and shoved his chair in roughly. "You're mistaken. Remus isn't The Mouth, okay?" he replied, staring down at the others. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and do some things."

And with that, he rushed out of the Study Room in search of his friends to distract him.

In the days following that conversation, Sirius lived in sweet denial. He avoided Marlene and ignored any mention of The Mouth; he did not watch Remus any more closely and he did not actively seek to find out the identity of Hogwarts's biggest player.

Two weeks passed before Sirius finally admitted defeat and accepted that his friend, Remus Lupin – studious, quiet, mischievous, brilliant, wonderful Remus Lupin – was doing _things_ with _other people_. It was after hearing Emmeline Vance, ex-girlfriend of Remus and enemy of Sirius, talking about how The Mouth had made her see stars in the Library not ten minutes ago, that he decided he couldn't take it anymore.

Sirius stormed into the Gryffindor common room and flung himself into the window seat, glaring at the Portrait Hole and waiting for Remus to come back to Gryffindor Tower so that he could confront him. It was an hour before the werewolf stepped through the entrance.

Remus glanced around the room with searching eyes and quickly found Sirius, a small smile falling on his lips as he waved and wandered over to him. Sirius valiantly ignored the way his heart skipped and his stomach flipped at the sight of Remus's smile and instead focused on his anger.

"Hi, Padfoot, what's occurring?" Remus greeted.

Sirius did not answer. Instead, he grabbed Remus's sleeve and dragged his friend up the stairs, ignoring the confused questions as they made their way to the dormitory. He glanced around briefly to confirm that the room was empty (James was probably pestering Lily and Peter was most likely off with his own girlfriend) and nodded to himself, satisfied.

"Padfoot, what's going on?" Remus asked when Sirius threw him in the room and shut the door behind them. "What are you doing?"

Again, Sirius did not reply. He just paced in front of the door and tried to calm himself down because he knew that his emotions – his jealousy and anger and sadness at the unfairness of it all – were getting the better of him and he didn't want to take it out on Remus, but he did need to speak to his friend about his recent... extracurricular activities.

Remus stared at him for a long moment before he sighed and sat down on the nearest bed, dropping his bag to the floor and waiting for Sirius to speak. After a few moments, Sirius paused in his pacing and turned to Remus, wholly intent on being calm and approaching the subject like adults. What happened instead, though, was...

"Remus, you need to stop it."

Remus frowned, seemingly confused. "Stop... what, exactly?"

"You know what," Sirius retorted, anger filling him.

"No, I really don't," Remus replied.

"Do you know what they're calling you?"

"'Remus', I hope," he quipped, offering a smile and trying to lighten the mood.

It just served to make Sirius more frustrated and he spat, "No, Remus, they're calling you The Mouth."

Remus froze and, after a long second of silence, he said, "What?"

"You heard me," Sirius replied coolly. "Do you know what everyone is saying about you, Moony? You're getting quite the reputation around school."

"Padfoot..."

"Is it true?" he asked, desperate for his friend to say no and to deny it all so he could go back to thinking that Remus was innocent and truthful.

"Is what true?" Remus asked, standing up and watching Sirius with careful eyes.

"Did you..." Sirius hesitated because he didn't want to know but he also was desperate to know. "Did you – you know – with Anya Saperstein? Or with Corey Ainsley or Emmeline Vance or Oscar Field?"

Remus stared at him for a tense moment, hazel eyes analysing and unreadable. "That's none of your business," he replied eventually.

For some reason, that made him feel sad. And when he was sad... well, he showed it by getting angry.

"Well, it seems to be everyone else's business, so why not mine?" he scowled. "You're my friend, of course it's my business! It's true, isn't it? You're doing... that... with everyone."

"Not everyone," Remus replied, so calm, so annoying. Then he snapped, "And what do you care, anyway? What, upset that I haven't gone down on you?"

Sirius froze, his heart racing and fear spreading throughout his body. He opened his mouth, trying to come up with a comeback but he couldn't seem to make himself move or speak or do anything, really, because Remus's words had hit too close to the mark.

It felt like Remus had purposely said it to hurt him – like he knew that Sirius didn't care what he'd done, but more about who he'd done it with. Sirius was all for Free Love, but that didn't mean he was happy about Remus giving it out. He wanted Remus and only Remus, and he wanted Remus to want him and only him, but he had been too afraid to breach that barrier, scared that Remus would not feel the same or they would break up one day and the Marauders would be over.

"Just because you're my mate, it doesn't mean that you get to tell me what I can and can't do, Sirius," Remus continued, running his hand through his hair, ignorant to the turmoil Sirius was in. "This is my life and if I want to meet up with someone, then I'm allowed to." It was then that he seemed to notice Sirius's lack of response because he frowned and asked: "Sirius?"

"Fuck you, Remus," Sirius muttered, finally finding his voice.

And then, with that, he snapped the door open and left the room, ignoring Remus's calls after him.

Over the next few days, Sirius ignored his friend. Remus tried to talk to him, but Sirius was a Marauder for a reason, and he managed to avoid Remus at every turn. James and Peter tried to get them talking but Sirius was stubborn and refused to be drawn into it. It was only when he overheard Elliot Grossly praising his friend's skills that he finally cracked.

Sirius stormed out of the Great Hall and found himself in the Charms corridor on the third floor only minutes later. He leaned against the wall and took deep breaths, trying to temper the dark cloud that he felt rising in him. Jealousy was a hideous, possessive, unattractive emotion, and he hated feeling it, but he couldn't deny that it was what he was experiencing, and he didn't know how to make it go away.

"Padfoot?"

Sirius sighed and straightened up, turning to face his friend who was watching him with careful hazel eyes. "I don't care that you're doing it," he said by way of greeting, because it was the truth. "I don't. It's your body and your choices, I know that. I have no right to say what you do or don't do. I just – I don't want to hear about it from everyone."

"Sirius..."

"I don't want to hear everyone talking about your perfect fucking mouth," he continued. "Everyone is talking about you, Moony. They – They talk about you like you're... like you're easy and disposable and not a real person; like you're convenient. But they're wrong. You are anything but convenient."

Remus frowned, confused, and Sirius realised that he was cocking it up, but he could only let his mouth run away:

"I didn't mean... What I meant was that they don't know you," he amended. "You're amazing and these people that you're messing around with, they don't know it. They don't care how about brilliant you are, they're just using you and I – I don't... I don't want you to be treated that way. You're my best friend, Moony, and you deserve to be with someone who knows how brilliant you are."

Remus didn't speak for a long moment, just stared at Sirius with analytical eyes. Then:

"Is that what this is?" he asked. "Just a friend looking out for a friend?"

Sirius swallowed and shrugged, "Of course."

Remus sighed quietly and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, his shoulders scrunching up self-consciously as he studied his shoes. It was a familiar action, one that told Sirius that his friend was nervous; that Remus was thinking about his next words and their impact very carefully; that Remus was going to ask something that neither were sure should be brought to light.

It made Sirius feel anxious too.

"Padfoot..." Remus hesitated before he looked away from his shoes and up at Sirius with intense hazel eyes. "Answer me honestly: do you fancy me?"

"What?" Sirius laughed, but it sounded forced – even to his ears. "No! No, that's ridiculous."

Remus squinted, "Is it?"

Sirius scoffed and stepped back, putting some space between himself and his friend. "Not... I didn't – I mean, I... Fuck," he growled to himself. He turned back to Remus and added, "I didn't mean to, okay? It just... happened. I don't know how."

A second of tense silence, and then:

"I won't do it anymore," Remus stated.

Sirius frowned, confused. "What?"

"I won't do it anymore," Remus repeated, voice steady and determined, his shoulders unhunching as he stared at Sirius. "Messing around with others – I'll stop."

Sirius sighed and replied, "Moony, really, you don't have to stop because of me and my stupid feelings. I'm fine, I'll get over this. You can do what you like, I just don't want to hear about it."

"Padfoot, listen to what I'm saying," Remus urged, stepping forward and pinning Sirius down with his stare. "I won't do it anymore, if you don't want me to."

Sirius paused because it seemed like Remus was telling him something important – like he was offering an opportunity of some sort, but Sirius didn't know what. "What?" he asked.

Remus hesitated, as if unsure how his next words would be perceived. Then he plucked up his courage and he asked, "Hogsmeade, this weekend, fancy going with me?"

Sirius just blinked.

Silence reigned for a beat too long.

"It's cool if you don't want to," Remus continued, nervous when Sirius did speak. "If I got this wrong, that's... embarrassing. But, um—"

"Hold on – wait. What's happening right now?" Sirius asked, needing some clarity because it sounded a lot like Remus was asking him on a date – like he was offering to stop seeing other people, not because he was worried about Sirius's feelings but because he returned them.

"Fucking hell, Sirius," Remus muttered, "I fancy you."

Sirius swore his heart stopped for a beat.

He had envisioned this moment before – had fantasised and daydreamed and wondered about what might happen if Remus returned his feelings, about how the confessions would be done and what might be said – but it was always an abstract thought; something that would not really happen because it was too fantastical. But here it was, happening in front of him. And all he could do was work on autopilot whilst his brain came to terms with the truth.

"You do?" he asked absently.

"Yes!" Remus answered with a small grin. "I have for ages."

"But... what about the others?"

Remus shrugged self-consciously and replied, "They were just... I don't know, Padfoot. They were all special in their own way, I guess, but they were all just placeholders; temporary flings; practice. They were using me, sure, but I was also using them."

"Oh."

"I've been waiting for you to want me back," Remus explained. "When you freaked out the other day, I thought maybe... Well, do you?"

"Do I, what?" Sirius asked, his brain still catching up with current events.

"Do you want me?" Remus asked, looking worried about the answer. "I know you might not want to, with all of the things you've probably heard about me, but would you forget about that? Just... Just forget about the others, and about my stupid fucking nickname, and just... date me? Let me use my mouth on you and only you?"

Sirius felt too many things at the other's words – hope and confusion and ecstasy and a bit of arousal, all of the emotions fighting for the top of the list – and he didn't know what to say. Of all the scenarios that he had played out in his mind, Remus telling him in the Charms corridor on the third floor after more than a week of silence had not been on his list.

"I know I'm fucking this up, but please tell me that I haven't misread things and made a total twat of myself?" Remus asked, when the silence lingered too long.

"You fancy me?" Sirius checked.

Remus nodded cautiously and answered, "More than. I like you."

It was that, of all things, that made Sirius believe him, though he didn't know why.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," he said, a grin creeping onto his face. "I will go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend, and we'll give this – us – a shot."

Remus grinned, bright and honest and wholly beautiful. "Really?" he asked. "I haven't read anything wrong?"

"You haven't read anything wrong," Sirius confirmed. "I fancy you. And I like you too."

Remus laughed. "Yeah?"

"Yes," Sirius responded. "So very much. It's disgusting how much, really."

Remus chuckled and muttered, "Not nearly as disgusting as how much I like you."

Sirius grinned and that was that.

The next few days were filled with lingering looks, shared smiles, and surreptitious touches. James and Peter were completely oblivious to the new development – or maybe they were just used to Sirius and Remus being so close.

When the weekend finally rolled around, Sirius and Remus went on their first date. It went well, which was not all that surprising. They were friends, after all, and they fancied each other. They went to The Three Broomsticks and drank Butterbeer and shared a bowl of chips. They talked about everything and nothing. Hours passed before they left. They kissed in a dirty alleyway outside of the pub and it was earthshattering. There was no going back to being friends.

The next few weeks were filled with a series of wonderful moments.

After their date, they spent a lot of together and were forced to tell their friends about the new development in their friendship after they were caught snogging in the back of the Library by James and Lily. Word got out, though they didn't know how, and the new dynamics of their relationship became public knowledge. People stared at them in the hallways, some teased them playfully and others were just homophobic dickheads, some eyed Sirius with disdain and others eyed Remus with confusion. It didn't matter. Sirius heard no more talk of The Mouth, so he knew that Remus hadn't been seeing other people. Sirius held his head high and enjoyed being Remus Lupin's boyfriend.

It was March of 1978 before Sirius experienced The Mouth for himself and to its full extent.

"Fuck," he muttered, minutes after his climax, the white noise in his ears finally dissipating, his surroundings slowly coming back to him. His limbs felt heavy and weak but in the best possible way.

Remus grinned smugly and lay down next to him. "What?" he asked, like he didn't know how good he was or why he had such a stellar reputation.

Sirius scoffed and replied, "Don't act like you don't know."

"Hm?" Remus hummed, leaning down and pressing soft kisses to Sirius's bare shoulder.

"Your mouth really is of another world," Sirius replied. "I can see why people kept praising you."

"Uh... Thank you?"

"You're welcome," Sirius grinned, taking the other student's chin in his hand and pressing a very hard kiss to Remus's lips.

Remus laughed and asked, "You really don't care? About how many people I've... you know."

Sirius snorted and shook his head, turning onto his side and running his fingers through Remus's messy hair. "No," he replied honestly. "Merlin, no. Come on, Remus, it's me. I've been to rallies for free love – I don't care about that. I just... I was just jealous, I suppose, because these other people got to be with you in ways that I have basically always wanted."

"Oh?"

"Oh," he confirmed. "I don't care what you did, Moony. I care that you didn't do it with me."

"But I am doing it with you now," Remus pointed out.

"True," Sirius conceded. "Well, then... As long as you do it with me and only me from now on, then I suppose I have nothing to worry about."

"Did you just... Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?"

Sirius paused, because he had been under the impression that they were already boyfriends. Then he thought about it and he realised he and Remus had never really discussed what they were; had never applied a label to themselves or publicly declared their status.

"Yes," he answered. "I haven't been with anyone since we started this up—"

"Neither have I," Remus cut in quickly.

Sirius smiled and said, "Good. I'd be terribly jealous if I found out you had been."

"Is it wrong that that kind of turns me on?" Remus asked, genuinely curious.

"Probably," Sirius replied. "But we're fucked up, so..." He shrugged.

"Go on, then," Remus urged.

"What?"

"Ask me to be your boyfriend," he replied, like it was obvious. "Properly and officially."

"Remus Lupin, moon of my life, eggs to my bacon, sweet to my pie, will you be monogamous with me – properly and officially?"

Remus rolled his eyes and replied, "Only if you'll be monogamous with me too."

Sirius hummed and pretended to think about it before he replied easily, "I agree to your terms."

"Then it's settled," Remus grinned. "We're an us."

Then Remus leaned forward and kissed him – sweet and caring and perfect.

Days, weeks, months, years passed with Sirius Black enjoying Remus Lupin and his skills.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: When I say that Sirius is one of only three openly gay people at Hogwarts, I mean that the other dudes mentioned on Remus's roster were experimenting or identified otherwise.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
